1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to skateboards, and more particularly to a skateboard having a single pair of rollers attached to the underside of a support platform for supporting a human user standing on the platform, and a truck assembly having a novel roller and roller support structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wheeled personal recreational apparatus of the type used for exercise or pleasure have been known for years. Some of the more common contemporary devices are roller skates and roller skis, and skate boards. These devices typically consist of a support platform for supporting the user who stands or sits on the platform and a plurality of wheels or rollers, typically at least four, supported by the underside of the platform.
In recent years, improvements in such devices have been directed to a variety of aspects of construction as well as function. Some improvements relate to the boards themselves, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,350 to Schmidt, Jr. et al which provides a modular wheel assembly construction that is designed for easier attachment to the underside of the skate board. Other improvements relate to the manner in which the wheels or rollers are supported to the board, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,127 to Kimmell et al. which discloses a two wheel roller skate in which the two wheels rotate about parallel axes and are each supported in a cradle for rotation about an axis normal to the parallel axes. Other teachings relate to suspension arrangements associated with wheels or rollers for the skating devices, as for example the structure shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,558 to Olschewski et al in which there is shown an elastic support member for rollers of skating devices wherein each support member includes a pin element extending at an acute angle downwardly from the mounting plate in a bore in the support member in such a manner that one end of the pin engages against the shaft of the roller and retains it in the bore. U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,842 to Kimmell et al. discloses a truck configuration for skate boards. Still other improvements relate to the wheel structure, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,995 to Forward et al. which shows a skate including a boot having forward and rearward hollow spheroidal rollers in lieu of wheels.
One of the more significant problem areas encountered in the design of skate boards and the like relates to steering, while maintaining stability of the board. Typically, a truck is used to support a wheel and axle assembly to enable such steering, with the steering being accomplished by the shifting of the weight of the rider to one side of the of the board or the other side . Each of the front and rear roller assemblies in conventional skate boards are mounted in mirror image relation to one another to permit the two pairs of wheels to turn simultaneously in opposite directions resulting in both pairs of wheels defining an arc of a curve.
Typically, trucks for wheels used with skates and skate boards comprise a solid central member having spindles on opposite sides of the solid member for support of the wheels. Some truck designs also have cushion members to absorb jolts or biasing members to urge the wheel supporting trucks back to a centered position relative to the support board.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,873 to Pantzer discloses a two roller skateboard having a flat board with a pair of steerable rollers disposed about an underside thereof. Each of the two rollers are of substantial width, on the order of about one half of the overall width of the skateboard. Each roller is rotatably supported to the underside of the board in a manner to permit swivelling about a journal axis. A cantilevered leaf spring cooperates with a pinion in the journal for the swivel axis to return to a neutral position. The wider pair of roller offers stability to the rider at slower speeds and when the board is at rest; however, the Pantzer skateboard is still unstable and susceptible to tilting over during use because, although being wider than most wheels found in conventional skate boards, the limited width of the rollers contributes to board imbalance.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,155 to Barachet discloses a skateboard having two wheels mounted to an underside thereof, in which the rear wheel is fixed relative to the support board. The skateboard of Barachet has the disadvantage that the rear wheel protrudes through the surface of the board thereby making foot placement of the user on the board quite difficult.
Against this background of known technology, the applicant has developed a novel wheel structure which can be used for skates, a skateboard, skis for use on a hard surface, a scooter, or any other related vehicular device. A preferred embodiment includes a board on which a user stands, and a pair of wheel members arranged parallel to one another and attached to the underside of the board. Preferably, the wheel members comprise a roller, each of which is mounted on a bracket pivotally secured to a clevis attached to the underside of the board. The roller bracket includes resilient means for absorbing shocks during use and for biasing the roller bracket into a centered position on the clevis. Preferably, the rollers are elongated along the axis of rotation of the rollers, and the exterior surface of the rollers is tapered at each end of the roller to enhance steering and control of the board.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel construction for a personal recreational device of the type on which a user stands and which is outfitted with rollers pivotably supported relative to the device that permit rolling motion of the device which is controlled by the user, and which will overcome many of the disadvantages and drawbacks of similar devices known in the art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel skate board design which includes forward and rearward rollers attached to the underside of a board, where the rollers have an elongated barrel shape with tapered ends which facilitate steering and control of motion of the board.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a set of rollers, each of which includes a roller element having a central portion and end portions, the roller being of elongated configuration along the axis of rotation.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a skateboard which uses a compressive pad of resilient, rubber-like material which can be subjected to compressive stresses by a roller-carrying bracket during turning such that the compressive pad will restore the bracket to its normally-centered position after completion of the turn, thereby assuring optimum simplicity in the turning or steering of the skateboard.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a kit for converting a conventional skate board to the board of the present invention, the kit including a set of trucks each having a base portion, elastic cushion means on the base portion, a bracket, and a roller mounted by the bracket to the truck.
Other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent, as will equivalent structures which are intended to be covered herein, with the teaching of the principles of the invention in connection with the disclosure of the preferred embodiments thereof in the specification, claims and drawings in which: